Criolo, born Kleber Gomes, draws on the grit and poverty of his childhood as the son of a metalworker and a teacher in the Jardim das Imbuias favela, or shantytown.
Still, in finally reaching the presidency, Lula has defied many forecasts of failure: many pundits argued that a former metalworker, lacking secondary schooling let alone a university degree, was unelectable in a basically conservative country.